This content is protected 1. I had just watched Braddock vs. Farr, and the first round of this one nearly killed me. I did note that Mann was a lot bigger and bulkier than previous Louis opponents. Mann did land solidly three times, but didn't hurt Louis. Mann. 2. Mann actually seemed to have hurt Louis twice, only slightly. He had Louis on the ropes briefly one of those times, and that's when things blew up into an exchange. Louis, while trapped countered with excellence, and a left hook caused the right leg of Mann to buckle, and Mann almost went down. From there on, Louis was now on the attack. A left hook floored Mann at ring-center, and another left hook sent Mann back into the ropes, and Joe threw a terrific left hook to the body. Mann was narrowly saved by the bell. I loved this round. It was a classic example of a guy having a great boxer like Louis on the run, maybe even having him slightly hurt, but Louis was able to turn it around within seconds and have Mann nearly on the verge of a knockout. Absolutely beautiful stuff. Louis. 3. Mann came out surprisingly eager to continue the battle, and the two were trading, albeit Louis being a hundred times more harmful with his blows. During one of these exchanges, a right hook floored Mann for the second time. Mann was up quickly, but kept pushin', even pinning Joe in a corner. Once Joe got outta there, he struck with a painful-looking right uppercut, left hook combination and Mann was down for the third time. He got up again, actually on steady legs it seems. The two went at it again, and Mann was persistent, he never stopped the barrage. A final left hook sent Mann down hard, falling sideways into the ropes, and you knew it was done. Verdict: Very boring at first, but the fight exploded near the end of the 2nd. Mann was a damn tough guy, he took a lot and never stopped returning. I couldn't believe how many bombs he ate and he was only down three four times. I won't pretend he is well known now, but I would conjecture that he was tougher than all of Louis' previous opponents, including big names like Baer, Braddock, and Farr. Joe looked great. One of his best performances. Not only was he throwing no end of powerful shots, but he threw a whole lot more body shots than in all his previous matches. Watch this one! P.S. Armstrong vs. Arizmendi IV is next, but I lost my notes, so I will have to rewatch it and get back to you guys on it later.
Louis was never in any trouble. He got hit a couple times, but a lot of the time he was moving away from the punch. By the second round he had his distance and started landing his jab. When Mann got in close he was at a severe disadvantage because he is a top down puncher. Louis punched from the floor up; he will always throw shorter, harder punches. The knockdown that came from the uppercut/hook in the 3rd was beautiful. Louis stepped in to land a jab then stepped back out of range of Mann's right hand, which Louis countered with the right uppercut, left hook. He had Mann patterned by that point; he saw that Mann was looking for the right over the jab in the first round and was moving back from it.
Nathan Mann was controlled by Dutch Schultz early in his career. By the time he received this title shot however I believe Schultz was already murdered in the Palace Chop house in New Jersey. Good fight
Louis was so open for a straight right it's ridiculous. I guess Max Schmelling actually DID zee zomzing.
Brave lad Mann and obviously liked to fight. He was very raw and naive though, at times stepping in without throwing a punch and leaving his head up in the air as he threw his left hook. You could show this fight as an example of the importance of good footwork.
"Mann was a lot bigger and bulkier than previous Louis opponents." ??? Mann was 5' 10" and 193 lbs., much smaller than Carnera, Baer, and even Levinsky and Uzcudun. And shorter than almost everyone. He was wide in the shoulders, though, but I still don't quite understand your take here. Mann was a solid contender with a decent record for over a decade, but he was in over his head here. Louis looked great, in another class from his opposition. "I would conjecture that he was tougher than all of Louis' previous opponents, including big names like Baer, Braddock, and Farr." Well, Mann didn't last as long against Louis as any of them. Farr actually went the distance. Would you elaborate on what you mean by tougher? I would favor all three over him. The post above about Dutch Shultz is no surprise, as gangsters were involved with many fighters. It didn't necessarily mean all the fights were fixed, though. I remember an old time gangster remarking on TV that many mob guys were sports fans and were just interested in who would win in a fair fight. Dutch was rubbed out in 1935 by Luciano when he threatened to murder prosecutor Thomas Dewey. Luciano was worried that such a murder would bring the wrath of the public down on the mob.
I meant guys like Charley Retzlaff and Al Ettore. I just thought he looked really heavily muscled as opposed to most of Louis' opponents (other than Carnera of course). "Well, Mann didn't last as long against Louis as any of them." I see what you're saying, but I think Mann went out earlier than those three cuz he fought Louis like a brawler. Carnera and Farr did not, and Baer was a better brawler than Mann, but only lasted a round longer. Mann certainly ate way more bombs than either Carnera or Farr.
Mann was pretty quick, stout, brave and aggressive. He fought a pretty good fight early on and I gave him the first. He just wasn't tough enough to withstand the barrage Louis had for him. As soon as Louis opened up, you knew it wasn't gonna last long. The way Louis was able to set up such a variety of punches is incredibly. The little half-steps backward to find the uppercut, the shuffles to get in position for that perfect cross. He was a little wild with his left here, but who cares? He landed it virtually at will. This was a pretty good fight IMO, and a very good performance from Louis.
Tommy Farr was the last Fighter to take Louis the distance for years wasn't he ? I don't Boxrec when I'm on here so I could be wrong. I liked Mann's courage but no way was he tougher than Farr.
Arturo Godoy would be the next to last the distance with Louis, in 1940. Taking it up a notch and gaining a card against Louis.
